PAM, 
MISC. 











HOW {0 Get Missionary Literature Read. 


BY AMOS R. WELLS, 
Managing Editor of ‘“ The Christian Endeavor World,’’ Boston. 





MISSIONARY reading’ means missionary succeeding. Turn the 
man’s mind to Paton’s life, and you turn the man’s life to Paton’s 
work. Every bright missionary book has sequels—as many of 
them as it has readers. They should never print “the end” on 
the last page of such a book; it is always “to be continued.” 
Get readers to open these books, and they will open their pocket- 
books. 

The problem of missions, at the bottom, is this: How to create 
a love of missionary reading. You may lead a horse to water, 
but you can’t make him drink. What you want me to do is to 
name a few ways of making him thirsty. I will ‘describe as 
many as my ten minutes will hold. 

In the first place, your Missionary Committee, or whoever are 


pushing the matter, must read the missionary books themselves ; 


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otherwise they will be in the position of a baldheaded man selling 
hair restorer. | 

In the second place, interesting bits of these books must be 
read to the young people, as you would hold out wisps of hay 
to a pony in order to toll him to pasture. To this end hold a 
“one-book” meeting, and go through some glorious missionary 
volume, one person to a chapter. Of course each speaker will 
give only the nuggets from his section of the book. 

Sometimes you will meet a galaxy of volumes in the same 
way, getting half a dozen persons to peruse as many books, and 
allowing each of them ten minutes to give just the very best 
things in his book. This would be turning your meeting place 
into the right kind of sample room. 

It would be well to make it a rule that every missionary meet- 
ing should contain a “book summary,” a brisk review of some 
fresh missionary book. Occasionally, too, these reviews might 
be introduced into the ordinary prayer meetings. Why not? 

Serials have built up the circulation of many a periodical. 
Enlist the serial interest for missions by selecting some thrilling 
missionary event, such as the Gardiner tragedy in Patagonia, and 
have it read to the young people up to the most exciting point, 


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when the reading will be stopped short with a “to be continued.” 
Of course it is to be continued by their individual reading. 

I would have a bold placard constantly staring young people 
in the face in their meeting room, bearing on it the words, “Have 
you read “The Cobra’s Den?’” or whatever book it is desired to 
push at the time. 

I would set before the Society, in much the same way, a list 
that I would call the ‘at least’? list—the best ten missionary 
books, say, and every Christian should read “at least’’ those ten. 
This essential minimum might consist of the lives of Carey, Jud- 
son, Livingstone, Martyn, Paton, Patteson, Gilmour, Hanning- 
ton, Moffat, Eliot. The list would vary according to your library, 
but a goal is always an incentive. The Society might present, 
with a pleasant ceremony, an engrossed certificate to whoever 
completed this course of reading. 

Has the good old fashion of “setting stints” gone by? Revive 
it in your missionary propaganda. Don’t be afraid to ask for 
pledges. There’s no better backbone than a promise. See how 
many will agree to read four mission books during the year—one 
a quarter. Have a record of this proud achievement kept by the 
Secretary, with occasional reports of progress. Get some one to 


Lig] 


time himself while he reads a missionary book of average size, 
and report the result to the Society. You will discover that fif- 
teen minutes a day would easily master six missionary biogra- 
phies a year. The average American spends twice that time on 
his daily paper, sucking in poison. 

Another good way to get missionary books read is to form 
jolly neighborhood reading circles. Who doesn’t like to go to a 
party? Sweeten the road to Livingstone and Martyn with cake 
and lemonade. After the young folks reach the enchanted land 
the road thither will be forgotten. Don’t “organize” these neigh- 
borhood reading circles; make them as simple as possible. The 
constitution of many an enterprise has “run down” through draw- 
ing on a constitution for it. Just put in each group some person 
of social magnetism, and you have all the constitution you need. 

An admirable method, which was originated by the New York 
Endeavorers, is based on the good-natured principle of “making it 
unanimous.” In brief, each Society buys a certain missionary book, 
with the understanding that it is to be read by every member of 


’ 


the Society. In order to “make it unanimous,’ some who would 
not otherwise read the book fall in love with the scheme. It 


were an interesting story, had I the time to tell how the various 


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districts of this great New York Endeavor Union have been 
brought by this simple principle first to buy for each Society a 
missionary library of four volumes read by every Endeavorer 
in every Society. 

There has grown up also an exciting competition. To illus- 
trate, in one Church, which contained three Christian Endeavor 
Societies, the Intermediate Society challenged the Juniors and 
Seniors to a race in obtaining readers for a certain delightful 
missionary book, each reader above the first hundred to count 
one. At the end of the time it was found that four hundred and 
thirty-eight persons had read the book, and the Juniors were the 
victors. 

The missionary libraries, now to be obtained so cheaply, put 
missionary reading within the reach of all young people; but 
some such plan as I have detailed must be adopted, or the books 
will be bought but not read. Of course they should be kept in 
a case, accessible to all, and open every time the Society meets. 
In my own Society a member of the Missionary Committee al- 
ways stands at this case, to record the books taken out and to 
lure into this missionary net the unsuspecting passer-by. 

There may be a public library within the reach of the young 


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people. If so, make it a business to learn what missionary books 
are there, and to advertise them, announcing their numbers fre- 
quently and persistently. Give the librarian a rest from “Sir 
Flipperkin, the Dainty Duelist.’ Perform the same service for 
the Sunday school library, on whose dusty upper shelves you will 
probably find a few gems of missionary literature. 

But the young people of the Church should not depend on the 
public library while they can easily get missionary books of. their 
own. If money is in the way (or rather isv’t in the way), you 
can persuade each person to buy a single book, which is to be 
his very own after all the Society have read it. Or, still better, 
let the Society purchase the books and then charge five cents for 
each reading, with one cent fines for each day the book is kept 
beyond two weeks. Thus the library will insensibly, and yet very 
sensibly, earn itself. 

We must not forget, however, that all the freshest missionary 
literature appears in the missionary magazines, and much of the 
most valuable material never attains the toga virilis of a cloth 
cover. The young people in so many localities have done good 
work. as subscription agents for these magazines among themselves 


and their families. [I recommend that a table be placed in the 


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meeting room, and that it always contain sample copies of a 
variety of missionary magazines, marked with the prices, while 
some one stands by to act as drummer for the King’s business. 

A good way to arouse interest in this matter is to appoint one 
young Christian to a missionary periodical. -It is his duty to 
know everything in his chosen journal, and be ready to report 
from it on call. You might dub these the “reporters” of the 
Missionary Herald, Assembly Herald, and so on. (For the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, “Go Forward.”) It will 
be especially fine if the Society can own files of such magazines, 
well bound and thoroughly indexed. They will make the best of 
fuel for missionary fires. 

Finally, to end with what is least in bulk, but sometimes great- 
est in value, do not neglect the missionary clippings. Put them 
together in little scrapbooks, arranged according to subjects, illus- 
trated by the pictures you will collect, brightened up by mission- 
ary stories and poems. Then circulate the scrapbooks as if they 
were ordinary books, and they will be read with extraordinary 
interest. The fragments may prove the best of the feast. 

And now I have only hinted at a few methods of doing this 


great deed. For if it is noble in our Christian heroes to blazen 


[8] 


the way of the cross, it is also honorable in us to turn the eyes 
of the young toward their glory, and they in their turn may lead 
the advancing host. Upon us, whose hearts are aglow with the 
reflected splendor of missionary annals, has been laid the proud 
duty of transmitting to other lives the inspiration we have re- 
ceived, thus perpetuating the fame of God’s servants and ex- 
tending the glory of God. As Christ gives us wisdom and 


strength, we will be true to our sacred trust. 





Board of Missions of the M. E. Church, South, Nashville, Tenn. 





EIGHT BOOKS ON MISSIONS. 

1. Missionary Issues of the Twentieth Century. Price, one dollar. 

2. A Concise History of Missions. By E. M. Bliss, D.D. Price, 
seventy-five cents. 

3. The Evangelization of the World in This Generation. By 
John R. Mott. Price, one dollar; paper, thirty-five cents. 

4. Life of John G. Paton. Price, one dollar and fifty cents. 

5. Life of David Livingstone. By W. Gordon Blakie. Price, one 
dollar and twenty-five cents. 

6. Korean Sketches. By James S. Gale. Price, one dollar. 

7. The Transformation of Hawaii. By Miss Belle M. Brain. Price, 
one dollar. 

8. Japan: Country, Court, and People. By J. C. Calhoun Newton. 
Price, one dollar and twenty-five cents. | 


